March on Stress News

MANAGING TRAUMA RESPONSE TO REDUCE SICKNESS ABSENCE

Added on the 18th September 2013

Having good trauma risk management in place can reduce employee sickness and absence rates – according to March on Stress leading trauma expert and backed by research.

Ex-Royal Marine Roy Scott, awarded an MBE for his trauma expertise, said: “Traumatic incidents can result in serious clinical health illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, this tends to affect the minority of people involved in a traumatic incident.

“The implications of trauma can be much more wide-reaching – with traumatic incidents often affecting an organisation’s overall morale.

“Just because someone doesn’t become clinically ‘ill’, evidence suggests that many people do suffer with post-incident mental health symptoms and their ability to function in the workplace is substantially impaired as a result.

“Having effective trauma risk management in place can mitigate the effects of traumatic incidents. The use of peer-support systems have been proven to work effectively in organisations that traditionally put their employees ‘in harm’s way’, for example the military and emergency services.

“They are based on keeping employees functioning after traumatic events by providing support and education to those who require it. This approach supports employees but also keeps people at work in functioning roles.”

Roy delivers trauma risk management (TRiM) training and crisis support on behalf of March on Stress, to organisations that routinely place their people in harm’s way. He was speaking at the Global Oil and Gas Professional Forum, Human Resources, held in Amsterdam on 10 and 11 September 2013.